W4KV John C. Adkins Pittsburgh, PA QCWA # 28322 Chapter 6

I was originally licensed as KN4BEB in Frankfort, KY, in 1954. I ran a Heath AT-1 and listened first on a salvaged aircraft receiver, and later, on a Collins 75 A-4 that my grandfather gave me (nice!). Lots of CW contacts running the booming 25 w input. Alas, I didn't upgrade, and my novice ticket lapsed. My grandfather, "Doc"--W4KWO, SK--was, for a while, the oldest active ham in Kentucky.

In 1965, I got my general class ticket in Baltimore just before moving to Durham, NC as WB4AHP. I exhumed the AT-1, and added the Heath VFO so I could pound it out a bit more flexibly.

Two years later we moved to a Maryland suburb of DC, where I became WA3ITI. I built a Heath HW-32 20 m SSB xcvr and operated 20 m mobile for 3 years. At that time I also did a lot of phone patches from Walter Reed's ham station to stations in Saigon and Hue, Viet Nam.

We moved to Pittsburgh in 1970, keeping the same call. Upgraded to Advanced, and then Extra when I had time to get my code back over 20 wpm. Got my present vanity call when the FCC allowed.

Now I do mostly HF stuff, though I still will gab on 2 m when on a trip. My cousin Smoke is KE6IVK, operating in Lexington, KY, and we rag chew occasionally.

Currently in Pittsburgh I run either an ICOM 7600 or a Kenwood TS-940S into one of two Heath SB220s. My antenna is a Gap Challenger 5-band vertical with an impossibly lossy feedline. Since the shack is in my attic, the top of the antenna is about at the same level as the rig. I rarely get out my Collins S-line.

I also play with my 756 Pro II in Hilton Head, but I'm limited to zig-zag 20 m and 40 m dipoles in my attic. I also have vertical dipoles for 2 m and 70 cm up there.

I retired in January '05, and now hopefully will have time to fix some old radios and rag-chew. Maybe we'll talk.

God Bless and 73

John

July 25, 2015